Douay-Rheims 1899 American EditionDRA

Version Information

The Douay–Rheims Bible is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by members of the Catholic seminary English College, Douai, France. It is the foundation on which nearly all English Catholic versions are still based.

It was translated principally by Gregory Martin, an Oxford-trained scholar, working in the circle of English Catholic exiles on the Continent, under the sponsorship of William (later Cardinal) Allen. The New Testament appeared at Rheims in 1582; the Old Testament at Douai in 1609.

The translation, although competent, exhibited a taste for Latinisms that was not uncommon in English writing of the time but seemed excessive in the eyes of later generations. The New Testament influenced the Authorized Version.

Between 1749 and 1752, English bishop Richard Challoner substantially revised the translation with an aim to improve readability and comprehensibility. It was first published in America in 1790 by Mathew Carey of Philadelphia. Several American editions followed in the 19th and early 20th centuries; prominent among them the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition Version.

Copyright Information

This edition of the text has been converted from the 1899 edition of the John Murphy Company, Baltimore, Maryland.

Because this Bible is in the public domain, you are free to quote from or reprint it. In the absence of more detailed publication information, if you need to cite it in a paper or published work, we recommend citing the website where you found it (such as BibleGateway.com); we have no additional copyright or historical data about this Bible.

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